Washington Mid-Level Skill Gap Analysis

Why mid-level occupations?
"Mid-level" occupations are defined as those that require more than a year of post-high school training or education but less than a bachelor's degree. State statute directs the Workforce Board to focus on jobs that do not require a bachelor's degree.

Why do we project ahead to future years?
This analysis looks several years into the future to help support policymakers who must make decisions about the capacity of training programs that may take several years to produce graduates.

The Gap
If Washington produces the same number of trained individuals in 2017 as it did 2009 (2012 production level was inflated due to recession, enrollment is expected to revert back to 2009 levels), the gap between supply and expected demand is the number in the Projected Annual Undersupply column on the far right.

Supply
The supply data is based on counts of participants leaving training programs in Washington in which they received “mid-level” training, such as Apprenticeship programs, public community and technical college programs and private career school programs.

Demand
The demand data is derived from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts of projected “net openings” for mid-level jobs in Washington combined with overall employment forecasts. Net openings consists of newly created jobs plus vacancies created when workers retire.